Potato growers in India’s Punjab are selling below the cost of production after a large crop, two independent Punjabi-language reports show. Traders are buying slowly, and cold stores remain full weeks before the next planting season.
Bathinda. ETV Bharat Punjabi reported on 16 September that potatoes were selling at ₹5–7 per kg for good quality and ₹2–4 per kg for average quality, or ₹400–700 per quintal. Farmers told the outlet that the same potatoes fetched ₹10–15 per kg a year ago. They put cultivation costs above ₹45,000 per acre and cold-storage rent at ₹110 per quintal, with yields of 90–110 quintals per acre. Growers asked for a minimum support price or per-acre compensation.
Jagraon (Ludhiana district). Punjabi Tribune reported on 18 September that traders were offering ₹200–250 per sack. Farmers there estimated the cost of holding a sack at ₹235–240, including ₹135–140 in cold-storage rent from March to November, plus harvesting, sorting and packing. They put cultivation costs at about ₹40,000 per acre with yields of 250–270 sacks. Stocks of the Diamond variety are building up in cold stores, they said.
The two reports differ on storage costs. One quotes rent per quintal and the other per sack, and sack weights are not stated. Both describe the same situation: at current prices, storage and handling costs take most or all of the value of the crop.
Not only Punjab
West Bengal shows a similar picture. Bartaman reported on 18 September that 62% of potatoes in 18 cold stores in Birbhum district were still unsold at the end of August, and that the state is looking to move surplus stock to other states. That figure comes from one source.
Why it matters
India plants its main rabi potato crop in October and November. A large unsold stock in Punjab and West Bengal means cheap ware and seed potatoes into the planting season. Growers may cut area or skip certified seed to save money. For processors and exporters, low prices are an opportunity. For seed companies and cold-store operators, they point to a difficult season. The pressure is also behind current efforts to open export routes, including planned air shipments of potatoes from Uttar Pradesh via the new Noida (Jewar) airport, reported by Amar Ujala.
Photo: Potatoes being transported to cold storage in India (illustrative). Suyash Dwivedi / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
